Home Nurse - Quadriplegics

you describe me!

i take care of a women part time during School that has ALS and who is on a vent, trached and has a G tube. I administer all medications as well. She is totally immobile and depends on us caregivers. I have catherized her before too to get a urine sample. Its a very interesting job to have during nursing school

sounds like our jobs are pretty similar

wow i guess your lucky that he has a care staff of 20...the woman i take care of has only 7 of us to take 24/7 care of her and 3 of us are in nursing School we so only work a few hrs on the weekend usually.

It really seems that the rules are completely different for spinal cord injuries. In nursing school you are warned about the consequences of frequent enemas, etc but with a SCI (in general) they will get a bowel program every day or two preferably at the same time. Also in spinal cord injuries Foley catheters are bad, intermittent catheterization is much better but this is not always possible. Probably the biggest thing though is pressure relief. A pressure sore can put someone out for over a year if not kill them (Christopher Reeve).

These people have great courage and they are inspiring but just be ready to learn and know that there are many things that are done "differently."

I've had several patients like this. What I find astounding is that this gentleman has a staff of 20. He is a very lucky patient. Hope that you are able to maintain a good working relationship. You will be able to learn a lot while working with him.